NEIL and Abbie Richardson were just minutes into a trail run when they heard someone calling for help.
The Adamstown Heights father-daughter duo headed into the Glenrock State Conservation Area on Saturday to test-drive 14-year-old Abbie's new running shoes, but wound up playing integral parts in a large-scale rescue operation.
"We were four minutes into the run and I heard someone yell 'help'," Mr Richardson said.
"I have been running those trails for 15 years so I know them like the back of my hand. Where the voice was coming from was an area with no trail so we just started looking around."
The pair crossed paths with a female runner who had also heard the call for help and together they all started searching for the source of the voice.
"It took 50 minutes of running around before we figured out he was about 600 metres down an embankment near the creek bed," he said.
"I was anxious because I knew there was water down there and I knew there were no trails leading to where the cries were coming from."
At this point two other Good Samaritans - mountain biker Dan and runner Justin - had also heard the call for help and together the group started wading up the creek to try and find the missing person.
"It was basically like a jungle," he said.
"We found him lying on a rock, kind of contorted, with his bike nearby.
"I don't know how he got there, but he had been there all night."
The man, 40, from Whitebridge had fallen down a small cliff deep in bushland, approximately three-kilometres from the nearest road.
By this stage emergency services had been called in and with the help of Abbie's directions, they were able to access the site where the man was laying.
Initially a Westpac Rescue Helicopter paramedic was winched down into the reserve, but the patient was a further 900 meters up the track. Ambulance paramedics with the assistance of NSW Fire and Rescue and National Parks officers, had to make their way in on foot. Flood experts also had to be called in to ensure a safe evacuation of the patient.
The man was treated for suspected hypothermia and spinal injuries at the scene. Mr Richardson, who also helped carry the man out of the reserve, said the precision and professionalism of the emergency service crews to work together under such stressful conditions was "superb and impressive to see".
"Crews walked over three kilometres through very thick scrub to get to the man," a NSW Fire and Rescue spokesman said.
"Once he was secured into an inflatable boat, he was carefully floated down a creek to an awaiting ambulance and conveyed to hospital.
"This was arduous work with difficult terrain, whilst wading through waist-deep water."
He was taken to John Hunter Hospital in a stable condition, where he spent the night before being released on Sunday.
"This was a prolonged complex incident, that required a multi-agency response," NSW Fire and Rescue's Glen Whitehead said.
"We had to utilise a variety of specialised equipment to ensure the patient was safely removed from the bushland.
"The patient was extremely lucky that the three mountain bike riders [and runners] Dan, Justin and Neil heard the cries for help and that they quickly rang emergency services - they did a great job."
